28. Antonio
Chapter twenty-eight
Antonio
“W e’re heading downstairs to the bar, would you two care to join?” I hear a male voice next to Theá ask. I glance over her head and spot Leo with Natalia, who’s practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, beaming at Selena and Theá.
I raise a brow at him, but thankfully Nat butts in, “I convinced Leo to take tequila shots with us. Please come.”
She may be speaking to the girls, but her eyes meet mine and I nod slightly, which causes her to smile brightly.
“You know who else loves tequila? Val and Adriano,” I quip, and the smile falls from her face so quickly.
“They should join, too. I’ve been wanting to chat to Adriano more,” Leo says.
“I know he’s keen to talk to you, too.” I chuckle as they all get up to leave.
“Don’t miss me too much,” Theá says, placing her hand on my upper thigh and kissing my cheek.
“You’re making it very difficult,” I grumble out.
I have been sporting a semi the entire day just watching her be her unapologetic self, but tonight, she looks hot. And to put it bluntly—I’m horny. I’ve been holding back since our little chat, but I would give anything to be sinking into her tight, warm—”
“I will get you back for this,” Natalia whispers into my ear, and I have to stifle my laughter as I watch Adriano and Leo walk out ahead of the girls.
The chair next to mine is pulled out and filled with Mattia.
“So I hear you had another run-in with Enzo.” He raises a brow. “You weren’t going to tell me?”
I stuff my hands into my trouser pockets. “No, of course I was. I just needed to process—”
“No, no. Hands on the table. Then try again,” Mattia says.
I sigh and roll my eyes, but do as he says. I’ve had the annoying tell all my life, and everyone seems to have picked up on it, so I can no longer disguise it around my family.
“I really was going to tell you, I just didn’t know how to bring it up.” I sigh, swirling the ice in my tumbler.
“He’s really wrapped up in this, isn’t he?” Mattia asks, and I glance over to see him staring blankly ahead.
I place my hand on his shoulder. “Unfortunately, fra , but you know I’ve got your back even if he doesn’t. I always will.”
“I know, it just sucks to watch it happen right in front of our eyes.” He sighs, slumping back in the chair like a small child.
“After last year, I’m not sure why we’re surprised,” Ambrose’s voice says from my other side, and I sigh.
My dear older brother has never been amazing at consoling anyone, and is instead more of a rip-the-Band-Aid-off kind of guy.
Mattia barely flinches at what is said, but I’m the one who glares at him. A silent plea for him to choose his words more carefully.
“He may have thrown his family to the wind, but you know you’re a brother to us,” Ambrose recovers, and both Mattia and stare at him in surprise.
“Wow, Ambrose, I never knew you felt that way.” Mattia leans forward, a small smile creeping onto his face.
“An annoying little brother, but a brother nonetheless.” Ambrose smirks, raising his glass before taking a sip.
“So how did the meeting go?” Mattia asks.
I drum my fingers against the tables. “It went fine, I am a bit concerned about the auction, though.”
“Why?” Ambrose asks.
“The artwork is far from the value they had me appraise—not to mention the horrendous quality of the copies. I just have a feeling they’re going to rip off the wrong person without my knowledge and my name is going to be all over it.” I sigh.
The thought has been lingering at the back of my head, to the point where I haven’t been able to sleep much the last few nights.
“I mean surely a few thousand Euros isn’t that big of a deal.” Mattia chuckles.
“Try a few million,” I say, and his laughter quickly turns into coughs.
“Excuse me? Millions? For paint?” He stares at me with wide eyes.
I don’t expect Mattia to grasp the concept or value of art, especially since his limited interest in art is Valerie’s work. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I let the reality of the situation hang in the air as I scan the room, noticing just how much it has emptied aside from us and Augustus, who is speaking to another group of men across the room. I feel on edge as if something is wrong, beyond the conversation we’re having.
“When is the auction?” Ambrose asks, drawing me back to reality.
“A few days before the CFP dinner,” I say, meeting his gaze as a sudden nagging feeling settles in my gut.
“And you’re worried he’s going to rip off someone who might be attending.” He raises a brow, reading my mind.
“To put it simply, yes. Kylian said something about making sure they never come back if they did figure it out, but I obviously don’t trust a word out of that fucker’s mouth.”
“We’ll handle it, should the situation arise.” Ambrose takes another sip. “I don’t think anyone is stupid enough to bring that sort of drama to the dinner.”
“I guess we’ll see.” I throw back the rest of my drink as Adriano walks into the room. His eyes meet mine and they seem alarmed.
I raise a brow and he motions me over with his head.
“Excuse me,” I say to Ambrose and Mattia before heading towards him.
“Don’t freak out,” he starts, and immediately my heart starts thumping. There’s a million things he could say right now that would make me freak out. For some reason, my mind immediately goes to Theá, and I’m even more on edge. “Enzo just showed up, and he’s been trying to speak to Theá.”
I don’t wait for any further elaboration before I head down the stairs, taking the steps two at a time until I’m standing in the main dining room and bar.
I spot him leaning against the bar as he speaks to her. I can’t tell much from her body language at this angle, but I can tell everything from his. He looks like Ambrose in his prime playboy era. His eyes glance up and meet mine before a smirk pulls at his lips.
I am going to kill him.
The girls are all surrounding them seemingly unaware of his presence, and I’m even more thankful I sent Adriano down here now.
Someone grabs my arm, spinning me around as I’m about to head towards them. I come face to face with Mattia, whose eyes are pleading.
“ Fra , please don’t make a scene. This isn’t the place,” he says.
I open and close my mouth numerous times. Jealousy and loyalty swirl around within me, creating a miserable taste of confusion.
I weigh Mattia’s feelings about his brother and my newly discovered feelings for Theá, then land somewhere in the middle.
I pull out of his grasp and storm over, contemplating just how much trouble it would cause if I beat the shit out of him right here. He sees me coming first and the faux surprise on his face is comical. I don’t know what he’s playing at, especially with using Theá as bait, but he’s lucky I love Mattia as much as I do—because that’s the only thing keeping me from smashing a bottle over his head.
“Let’s go.” I grab Theá’s wrist and pull her after me as I start walking towards the back of the restaurant.
“Hey! Just because I’m nearly your height in heels doesn’t take away from the fact that I might fall if I go too fast.” She jogs to keep up with me.
I stop dead in my tracks in the middle of the restaurant. She crashes into my side and looks at me with brows furrowed. “Do you need me to carry you?” The sudden softness in my tone even catches me by surprise.
“N-no…”
“Then stop complaining,” I say, continuing to pull her after me towards a back door. It opens into the emergency stairs for the entire building. Rage is bubbling through me, but there’s a different kind of heat that I can’t seem to figure out.
“What are we doing?” she asks. The apprehension in her tone doesn’t match the spark in her eyes as she looks at me.
I pin her to the wall. “You need to stay away from Enzo.”
Her face morphs in front of me as it switches from a look of shock to one that seems almost comical before she bursts out laughing. “What?”
“I know you heard me, Theá.”
“Oh, I heard you, but what I also heard was some jealousy sprinkled in there as well.”
“I’m not jealous. He’s caught up in some shit with your dad and he’ll do anything to ruin my brothers and me.”
The stupid smirk still lingers on her face as she looks up at me. “What?” I ask, annoyed that she’s finding this funny right now.
“Still sounds like jealousy. Besides, why would he use me when he knows my dad’s plans?”
“Because.”
“Because?” she asks, looking up at me innocently. The way her whiskey eyes drink me in is everything but innocent, they look like a cover-up for what’s really going on in her head.
“Because you’re important to us.”
“Us?”
“Yes, my brothers and I.”
“Oh,” she says dejected before she looks away from me, backing up slightly.
I realise my error instantly and curse myself for not just saying what I really meant. My hand grabs her jaw and I guide her face until she’s looking at me again. “Me. You are important to me .”
Like magnets, we clash together. My lips are on hers, and her fingers instantly find their way into my hair.
“ Cazzo , I love it when you do that,” I groan against her lips.
She smirks, pulling even more until there is no space between us.
The little whimpers she lets out as I let my hands trail her body drive me to the brink of madness.
Well, the brink is a loose term as I reach behind her thighs and hoist her up so that they wrap around my waist. Once the warmth of her core reaches where I’ve so poorly been concealing my semi, I’m back to rock hard in seconds, fully contemplating fucking her right here in the stairwell.
“Let’s go home?” I pull back to ask.
“No,” she says without hesitation before glueing her lips back to mine, grinding against me.
I pull back completely, using my hand to grip onto her hips to stop her actions. “ Tesoro , I’m either going to blow in my pants or fuck you right here if you keep doing that.”
“Then do it,” she says as her lips start their sweet assault on my neck. Her gentle nipping and sucking has me dry-humping her like a school boy.
“Theá… fuck ,” I say, trying to pull back, but she digs her nails into my back, clearly with the hopes of stopping my retreat. “No, stop,” I say, and in under a second, I’ve put her down and moved against the opposite wall.
She’s staring at me, confusion clear across her face. She looks flustered as she pants and tries to pull her dress back down. I’m sure I look no better as I rake my fingers through my hair, hoping to make it less noticeable. “You deserve better than a quickie in the stairwell, tesoro . And I’d kill anyone if they even got a glimpse of your pretty pussy.”
Her eyes are wide as she stares at me, unsure of what to say or do next. I grab her wrist and pull her back into the restaurant. “We’re leaving.”
“I can’t just leave, what about the party? And my bag?”
I ignore her questions and rush back towards the bar, where thankfully Enzo is no longer. I spot Valerie, Natalia, and Selena standing and talking near the staircase.
Valerie’s eyes meet mine as we approach.
“We’re leaving, sorry to bail on the party. Nat, could you drop off Theá’s bag tomorrow?”
Their eyes shift between Theá and I, but Valerie must sense my desperation because she starts nodding. I take it as the yes I need, and then guide Theá out.
“That was so embarrassing,” she says.
I stop in front of the McLaren and spin to look at her. “Would you rather I told them I was rushing home because I want to sink my dick into your warm pussy?”
She stares at me wide-eyed and mouth agape.
I open the door. “No, I didn’t think so. Get in the car, Theresa.”